Unknown Tales of The Freighter
by GuitarHeroLost
Summary: A story of the how the Freighter four met and all that happened before they set off for the island. Pairings: Dan/Charlotte and Miles/Naomi.
1. Chapter 1

Since I love the freighter people I decided to start a story about when they all met and reactions to certain situations and stuff like that

**Since I love the freighter people I decided to start a story about when they all met and reactions to certain situations and stuff like that. It will probably end up being Dan/Charlotte and, my favorite, Miles/Naomi.**

**Disclaimer: Hmm…Nope. I got nothing. I don't own Lost.**

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The Kahana was to set off in a few days. Naomi Dorrit was stuck in charge of taking the names of the people who were coming on the freighter. She wasn't in a good mood today because she had just got out of a meeting with her employer, Matthew Abbadon. In there she complained about her team, which was definitely NOT a good one. Why Matthew chose those people, she'd never know.

As if he had heard her thoughts, a man approached her. Naomi recognized him immediately. He was Miles Straume, one of the members of her team.

"Go right ahead, Miles," she said before Miles could say anything to her. He looked at her curiously, and then, as if realizing something, smirked and walked onto the ship. Naomi rolled her eyes and went on with her job.

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Miles Straume was confused for a moment when the woman with the clipboard already knew his name, but realized that he must have to work with her at one point. Not that he was complaining, in fact, he was overjoyed. She doesn't seem at all like a weirdo he'd expected to be working with, in fact, quite the contrary. She was beautiful, and he looked forward to meeting her at the team meeting later that night. If all of them were like her, he would have to take jobs like this more often.

He looked over at her once and she was talking to a man who claimed his name was Kevin Johnson. What a lie, he thought to himself.

Kevin walked on board and Miles said, "That's not your real name."

Kevin looked over at him as if asking 'how do you know?' But instead, all he said was "What?"

Miles laughed and shook his head. "Everyone on board this ship has secrets." Kevin shrugged and went on to some other part of the ship.

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Daniel Faraday was extremely nervous. He didn't want his teammates on the ship to think he was crazy, even though he knew they would. Everyone did, nowadays. He was used to it.

Nevertheless, he was still nervous. It was almost time for the meeting. He didn't know who any of them were, not at all. He didn't know their names or what they look like or anything about them.

Daniel left his new room on the ship to find the place where they were meeting. Someone told him earlier where to go, but he'd forgotten. He even forgot what the person looked like. He thought it was a girl, but still, he didn't remember for sure.

Daniel forgets a lot of stuff these days. Sometimes he would just space out. He supposed that's why people thought he was crazy. Maybe he was. He didn't know. Everyone else seemed to think he was, so he even became used to the fact that he wasn't entirely right in the head. It wasn't a very uplifting thought.

For some reason his feet had taken him to a room below deck. Sometimes he did that. He would forget something and then instinctively do what he was supposed to. He supposed it was a good thing.

Suddenly Daniel noticed a woman sitting in a small wooden chair in the corner. She was stunning; she had red hair that streamed past her shoulders and her face was splashed with freckles. He assumed that she was one of his team, and he certainly hoped so.

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Charlotte Lewis looked up when she heard someone walk into the room. She saw a man that looked somewhat surprised to see her. The only reason he could be here was because he was one of her team. She stood up to greet him.

"Hello," he said anxiously.

"Hi," Charlotte shook his hand cheerfully. "Are you part of the team?"

"Yeah, if you and I have the same 'team' in mind," the man said.

Charlotte laughed. "My name's Charlotte."

"Dan," he said.

"Nice to meet you, Dan," Charlotte said.

"You too, Charlotte," Dan said. "So-so are we early or something?"

"I guess," Charlotte shrugged. "I hate being the last one to places so I generally try to be the first."

"That makes sense," Dan said, making Charlotte laugh again.

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Dan was shocked that Charlotte was so peppy to meet him. Usually people were alarmed by his awkwardness and try to avoid him.

Dan was also surprised that Charlotte would laugh like that. It wasn't a forced laugh, which he was very used to hearing. Either Charlotte laughed really easily or she actually thought he was funny. No one ever thought Dan was funny. Crazy, maybe, but never funny.

Charlotte didn't say anything for the next couple of minutes. Dan hated silences. They made him want to say something when he never had anything to say.

Luckily, at that moment the door opened and someone walked in. He glanced over in their direction but said nothing. He sat down on a barrel across of the room and pulled out a small book and began reading it. Dan tried to read the lettering on the cover. He wasn't sure, but he thought it said, "Flight Oceanic 815 Manifest."

Dan tried to remember where he had heard the words 'Oceanic 815' before. It came to him quickly; the flight that crashed down a month or two ago. They had just found its remains in a deep trench recently. It was very sad.

The door opened again and someone walked in. He sat down on a chair in the middle of the room and said nothing. Dan recalled that there were 5 members to his team. Just one more to go.

Dan wondered who the leader was. He had known earlier, but of course, he forgot. Sometimes if he really thought hard about things he could remember. He hoped everyone else knew.

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Frank Lapidus walked into the meeting room. He noticed to other people sitting on the right. Not knowing what to say, he took a seat on a barrel on the opposite side of the room. As usual, he pulled out his Oceanic 815 manifest. Ever since it crashed, he'd carried it around and tried to remember all of the passengers. Frank had a very good memory, and had just about memorized all of them. He was just making sure.

Frank's thoughts were interrupted when a fourth person walked into the room. His eyes darted around the room quickly before he took a seat in the middle of the room.

One left, Frank thought to himself. Frank hadn't learned who would be leading this team, but he had recalled that it was a girl. There was a woman sitting on the other side of the room, maybe it was her. Whoever it was, Frank was sure they'd make it clear that they would have to follow her orders.

The final person walked into the room then. Everyone in unison stood up. This last person was a girl too. It could be her.

"Alright, before we make any introductions, I'd like to make this clear," the person began. "Like I said to Matthew, this mission is going to be hard enough without me having to baby-sit a head case-," she motioned to one of the men in the room. The other girl looked at him curiously. "- a ghost buster-," she nodded to the other guy. "-an anthropologist-," she indicated the girl. "-and a _drunk."_ She said finally to Frank.

Yeah, it was her.

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Naomi had to explain this first, the second she walked into the room. The people looked rather insulted, especially Dan and Frank. She didn't care. That wasn't her problem they had brain and alcohol issues. Naomi noticed that Miles was the only one that didn't look offended. No, he was just staring at her, like he was totally interested in what she had to say. That makes one, Naomi thought.

No one commented on her beginning speech. "Right then," Naomi continued. "I'm Naomi, and I'm going to be leading this group. I was forced to read about you and your names, so I know all about you. You don't know about each other is the problem, go ahead and talk."

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**Review and tell me how you like it! Next chapter will probably introduce Miles/Naomi because like I said it's my favorite!**


	2. Chapter 2

**Someone tell me why the HECK it's repeating the first line…I didn't write that!**

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Miles' POV:

I'm in a team with all idiots.

Except Naomi, of course. She's amazing. I did what she suggested and talked to my teammates and they were _idiots._

I talked to Dan first. There was only one word to describe that guy: Crazy. He is not right in the head, I tell you. I don't even think he knows what he's talking about. Why Matthew put him on the team, I will never know.

And then there was Charlotte. She is out of control. I don't know what's got her all hyper, but it's really got to stop. That will get real annoying, real fast. And I'm not pleasant when I'm annoyed. And I get annoyed easily.

But of course there was another one. Frank. Naomi was right; he's a drunk or something. He told me that he was the pilot for us. There is NO way I'm surviving in a helicopter with that guy. Drunk driving is one thing, but drunk flying is another. That will not end well.

I decided to leave the craziness and go see if I could talk to Naomi. She'll make it all worth it, I hope.

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Dan was pretty sure everyone thought he was crazy, especially Miles. All throughout their conversation he was looking at Dan as if he was a lunatic. And maybe he was. He didn't know.

Even Charlotte was treating him a bit differently. That was probably only because Naomi called him a head case. And maybe he was. He didn't know.

Frank was pretty nice. They all were, but the kind of nice people are when they think you're crazy. And maybe he was. He didn't know.

After a bit Miles started calling him by his last name. He's never heard anyone do that before. It may take some time getting used to. He was only used to hearing "Dan" or "Daniel" or "Crazy."

All in all, he couldn't have hoped for better. Compared to some times, this was great. He really liked his team. They were great people. Especially Charlotte, she was really fantastic. He should talk to her more often. But right now she was talking to Frank. Dan sighed and ran his hand through his hair. Maybe he should just get out of there.

He walked through the doorway without saying bye to anyone. Miles wasn't even there anymore. He's not the most sociable of guys.

Dan ran into someone while he was thinking. "Sorry," he mumbled.

"That's alright," the person said. "What's your name?"

"Dan," he replied.

"Hey Dan, I'm Regina," Regina said. "What brings you here?"

"I'm, uh," Dan began. He didn't really know why he was here. Not exactly, that is. "I'm on Naomi's team."

Regina nodded. "I guess you're pretty important, then. What do you do?"

She sure asks a lot of questions, Dan thought to himself. "I-I don't really no quite yet. I guess they hired me for my interest in science, and I did a lot of research about the island, it sounds quite fascinating, I'm really excited to go there."

"Ah, you're the science guy," Regina nodded. "Well I guess I'll probably be working with you later on. I was flipping through some notes about the island, too, and I was reading something about a time difference, did you hear about that?"

"Yeah, I, uh, I think I read something like that," Dan said. "I really want to find more out about that, maybe when I get to the island."

"You're lucky you get to go," Regina sighed. "Oh, I have to get going. Nice meeting you, Dan." Regina walked away.

Dan continued walking toward his room. Regina didn't treat him as if he was crazy. In fact, she sort of acted as if he was a celebrity, 'I guess you're pretty important', 'you're the science guy', and 'you're lucky you get to go.' Maybe he wasn't crazy after all.

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Charlotte was too into her conversation to notice that both Miles and Dan had gone. Frank didn't see this either. "Where did they go?"

"I didn't see," Frank answered. "Why do you think Naomi called him a head case?"

"I don't know," Charlotte shrugged. "Why'd she call you a drunk?" Frank said nothing.

"Well I'm going to get going," Charlotte said. "See you in the morning, Frank." She and Frank both went to their separate rooms.

When Charlotte woke up in the morning she found a stack of papers pushed under the bottom of her door. She picked them up curiously. Skimming through them, she realized that they were records of her team. She immediately found Dan's and pulled it out. He seemed like an interesting guy and she really wanted to find out more about him.

Charlotte was so hooked on reading about everyone-for some reason, Naomi didn't include her own file- that she hadn't realized how late it was getting. She set them on her table for now so she could go to the boat's cafeteria for breakfast.

When she arrived it looked as if the entire boat was there. Charlotte decided to just get her food and eat up in her room where it wasn't so crowded.

She made her way through the crowd and up to the front of the room. She saw someone she recognized ahead of her. "Dan!"

Dan turned and his face brightened when he saw it was her. He walked towards her.

"What a mob, huh?" Charlotte said.

"Yeah, I know," Dan laughed. "I think I'm going to take my food upstairs so it's not so confined."

Wow. That was better than her idea. "Good idea, can I join you?" Charlotte asked him.

For a second it looked as though Dan was caught off guard by this question, but he shook it off and said, "Of course."

The two of them managed to make their way through the crowd and out into the daylight. "It's a beautiful day," Charlotte noted.

"It is," Dan agreed.

"So what do you think about the ship?" Charlotte said.

"Oh, I don't know," Dan shrugged. "I've never been a big fan of the sea, but you know, it's a change of scenery. I like being away from home every once in a while."

"Same here," Charlotte said. "Well, actually, I love the ocean, I always have."

"So how about this island business?" Dan said.

"It sounds fascinating," Charlotte got this dreamy look on her face. "I'm so excited; I can't believe we actually get to go. I'm particularly interested in the wildlife there. There's got to be a whole bunch of different animals."

"Yeah, there should be," Dan said. "I-,"

"OY! YOU TWO!"

Dan and Charlotte jumped to their feet. Someone was approaching them. "What are you doing out on deck?"

"Eating, is there a problem?" Charlotte responded boldly.

"I guess not," the man replied. "Why aren't you eating down in the cafeteria?"

"It's overly-populated," Charlotte answered. "And why are you questioning us, exactly?"

"It's my job," the man told her. "I'm Captain Gault. And who are you?"

"My name is Daniel Faraday," Dan introduced himself.

"Charlotte," Charlotte said simply.

"And what are you supposed to be doing right now?" Captain Gault said.

"Nothing," Dan said. "That's why we're sitting out here."

"You've got nerve," Captain Gault said to him. "I respect that, but make sure you don't get carried away. Carry on with your meals." He went on toward some other part of the ship.

"Wow," Charlotte said. "Nice captain."

"Yeah, right," Dan laughed.

"So what were you saying before?" Charlotte asked curiously.

"Oh," Dan said. He didn't remember. "I was just saying how this-this island…it kind of seems as if it's like a different planet. No one really knows about it, no one lives there… there's so many things that can be completely different from what we're used to here."

"I know what you mean," Charlotte nodded. "But as for no one living there, how is that possible? I mean, from what I heard it's a pretty big place, someone at some time should've lived there. Who knows, maybe there's someone living there now."

"Maybe," Dan said. "I think we're going to be provided with more information later, like when we get closer. They know a lot more than we do."

"They better," Charlotte said.

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**Uh…I kind of just made up that ending. I don't like that ending.**


	3. Chapter 3

**Miles/Naomi this chapter, I'm sure.**

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"Charlotte?"

"Yeah?" Charlotte responded.

"Can I tell you something?" Dan said timidly.

"Anything," Charlotte said.

"Okay, Charlotte, you're probably the person I most trust on this boat," Dan began. It had been a week since the freighter left port.

Charlotte smiled. "Why thank you, Daniel, that's very sweet of you."

"Wait," Dan went on. "So…so I think it's only fair that I tell you…Charlotte, I don't remember things too well."

Charlotte looked at him curiously for a moment before replying, "What do you mean?"

"I don't know," Dan said. "It's like…something's wrong with me. I can barely remember anything. I'm surprised someone as smart as you wouldn't notice. Everyone else does. They think I'm crazy, and I can tell."

Once again, Charlotte took a second before answering. "You're not crazy, Dan, they're wrong. So what if you don't have a very good memory? It's not like that can't change. Have you tried memory tests or anything?"

Dan shook his head. "I don't think it would help. I mean, I haven't always been like this, it was years ago, I was at Oxford-,"

Charlotte suddenly stood up. "C'mon." She grabbed his arm and pulled him up.

"Where are we going?" Dan asked as Charlotte led him down a hallway.

"My room," Charlotte answered and unlocked a door to a small bedroom. She walked over to her dresser and pulled open a drawer, dug threw it a bit before pulling out a deck of cards. "Go on, sit." She sat on one side of her bed and Dan sat on the other.

"So how bad is your memory exactly?" Charlotte said while shuffling the cards.

"It all depends," Dan answered. "Most of the time it's really bad, sometimes I don't remember what I'm watching on TV during the commercials."

"Then we'll start out small," Charlotte put two cards down between them face-up. "Take as long as you need to try and remember them."

Four of diamonds and nine of clubs, Dan thought to himself. "Alright. Now what?"

"Now," Charlotte began. She flipped the cards over. "We wait a minute, and see if you can still remember them, in the right order, too."

A minute passed and Charlotte pointed to the first card. "Four of diamonds," Dan said. She flipped it over. Dan was right. She pointed to the next one. "Nine of clubs," Dan said. Charlotte flipped that one over too, revealing that Dan got both of them.

"See?" Charlotte said. "Not as bad as you think."

"Two cards, Charlotte, it's not that hard," Dan said.

"Well then why don't we move up to three?" Charlotte placed three different cards on the bed. Dan ran them through his head before Charlotte put them face-down again.

After a minute Dan tried to remember. "Uh, Jack of hearts." That one was right. "King of…uh…spades?"

It was the king of clubs. "Close," Charlotte said optimistically as she pointed to the next one.

"Three of hearts?" He guessed, really having no clue as to what it could be. It was the 7 of clubs.

"Don't worry," Charlotte said. "Sure, you have room for improvement, but on the one you were really, really close."

"It would take forever for me to remember all of them, I can't even get two," Dan sighed.

"That's okay," Charlotte smiled at him. "We have all the time in the world."

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"We've been out in the water for long enough; you want to take her for a test run?" Naomi asked Frank, referring to the helicopter.

"Sure," Frank replied. "I never say no to a chopper ride."

Frank hopped into the pilot's seat and prepared to take flight. Naomi stepped back and watched as the helicopter took off. Frank saw people rush out from below deck, alarmed by the noise. He flew farther out over the water until the people on the ship couldn't see him anymore.

Frank turned after a while and flew in that direction. It was a bit bumpy, which confused him, because it wasn't that much of a difference. It shouldn't have been that rough.

As he landed Naomi rushed over to him. "How'd it go?"

"Good, for the most part," Frank answered. "Hit a bit of turbulence while flying southeast."

"Did you really?" Naomi said, clearly deep in thought.

"Yeah," Frank said. "Why? Is that bad?"

"No," Naomi shook her head. "No, it's actually quite helpful. I have to talk to the captain, bye, Frank." She went below deck.

Quite helpful? Frank questioned in his head. How? What does this mean?

Whatever it was, Frank was sure it had something to do with the fact that the next morning they had turned in the exact direction where he had hit the turbulence.

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Miles found Naomi sitting out on deck the day they changed directions. It was probably the first time Miles saw her when she wasn't in a meeting or talking with the captain, or any other really important person.

To Miles, there were two kinds of people when it came to getting women. There were the sweet, sensitive, romantic people and the flirtatious, cheesy-pick-up-line people. Miles was that second one.

Naomi was sitting on a crate and facing the ocean with some papers and a pencil in her hand. Miles walked over to her and sat down on the other end of the crate.

Naomi looked up. "What?"

Miles shrugged. "I just wanted to sit here. By you."

Naomi raised her eyebrows. "Of course you did. But you know I meant what I said. I'm not here to baby-sit you all."

"You won't have to baby-sit me," Miles informed her.

"Good," Naomi replied.

"But, you know," Miles went on casually. "I'm always up for a good-night kiss."

Naomi rolled her eyes without looking up. "Don't you have some ghosts to talk to or something?"

"Why would I talk to a bunch of dead people when I could be talking to you?" Miles grinned.

Naomi sighed. "Because, Miles, I don't want you talking with me. As you can see, I have work to do, because I am way more important than you are. So, Miles, why don't you just go and do whatever you do on this ship?"

Miles was speechless for a second before a wide grin appeared on his face. "Say that again!"

"Why?" Naomi asked, clearly confused.

"Your accent makes you sound so hot when you say that," Miles explained.

Naomi rolled her eyes and sighed again. "Just stop, Miles."

"As you wish," Miles shrugged.

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Naomi didn't exactly know why she had told Miles to stop. Talking to him was a great change from talking to anyone else. They were all so serious and had no time for anything but work. But here was Miles, just attempting some at some harmless flirting.

She sighed. "I'm sorry, Miles. I'm just kind of stressed out."

Miles looked confused. "What?"

"I shouldn't have snapped at you," Naomi said. "It wasn't right of me. We're all equals on this boat."

"As long as we play decent hold 'em," Miles quoted from George Minkowski, another member of the crew here.

Naomi laughed. "Exactly. You play?"

"Yeah, not much, though," Miles shrugged. "I play when I can."

"Well I think George wants to play tonight," Naomi went on. "He doesn't get out much so he can't invite everyone every time. Do you want to come?"

"Sure I do," Miles grinned. "When is it?"

"It's usually after dinner, around sunset," Naomi told him. "Just be out here on deck. He sets up a card table."

"And why isn't he in the communications room at that time?" Miles asked.

"Regina is in there," Naomi answered. "So I'll see you there?"

"Sounds like a date," Miles said.

Naomi rolled her eyes. "Just be there."

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**Not the longest chapter, but I did put Miles/Naomi A.K.A the awesomest most fantabulous ship ever!!**


	4. Chapter 4

**I want more reviews. Yeah, I know, I'm greedy, but I really like this story. I hope you all like it too.**

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Frank was out on deck. Keamy, Omar, and a couple other people were throwing discs in the air and shooting them down. Frank chose not to participate; he just laid back and watched.

Occasionally people would come up to see what all the noise was. Whenever they asked them to stop, Keamy would just tell them to get lost. Frank kind of felt bad for them, but he knew Keamy was not the kind of person who he would want as his enemy.

Daniel and Charlotte had just come up from below deck together to see what was causing the noise. Omar poked Keamy in the shoulder and shouted, "It's a bird! C'mon, Keamy, shoot it down!"

Roars of agreement from the others came and Keamy laughed and shrugged. He aimed upward, squinted his eyes, and fired.

The bird came pelting down and landed with a THUD on the deck of the boat, only a few feet away from Frank. Something caught his eye. He walked closer to it and knelt down while Omar gave Keamy a high five.

"There's a note attached!" Frank said loudly. The laughter from the group of people ceased.

"What?" Keamy said doubtfully. He strode over to Frank and the bird just as Frank was untying the note.

He looked over Frank's shoulder as Frank read aloud, "To whom it may concern, we are survivors of Oceanic Flight 815. We have survived on this island for 80 days. We were 6 hours into the flight when the pilot said we were off course and turned back towards Fiji. We hit turbulence and crashed. We've been waiting here, all this time, waiting for rescue that has not come. We do not know where we are, we only know you have not found us. We've done our best to live on this island. Some of us have come to accept that we may never leave it. Not all of us have survived since the crash, but there is new life too, and with it, there is hope. We are alive. Please don't give up on us."

There was silence for a moment. "The survivors of Oceanic 815," Frank said to himself.

"You were right," Keamy muttered. "You and Naomi were right." He snatched the letter out of Frank's hands.

"Hey!" Frank yelled. "What are you going to do with that?"

"Don't panic," Keamy assured. "I'm just going to take it to the captain's office. I'm pretty sure this can help with what we need to do on that island."

"What _do _we need to do on that island?" Frank asked. He knew it had something to do with him, but he had no idea what the true mission was yet.

Keamy glanced around before answering. "The time has come for you and your team to find that out. But not here, later, Naomi will inform you of your mission."

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Miles was sitting out on the boat's railing, kicking his feet back and forth absentmindedly. He had just eaten dinner and was waiting for everyone to get out and play cards.

He knew what was probably holding them up. By now, everyone who knew about the island that was on the boat knew that they had found a note from the survivors of Oceanic Flight 815.

Naomi must be elated, Miles thought happily. Just as he was thinking this, the door from below deck opened and Naomi emerged.

She spotted Miles sitting up on the railings and walked over to him. "So you were right," Miles said.

"Yeah," Naomi smiled. Miles smiled too; he didn't know why, but it made him happier to see her so happy. "I can't believe it; it just makes me want to get to the island sooner. I wonder how long it's going to take for us to get there."

"Faraday was saying," Miles began. "That he thinks it's going to be a few more weeks. Two to three, he says."

Naomi nodded gloomily. "It seems like such a long time."

"You know, I'm always here to keep you entertained," Miles said. Naomi shot a dark look at him but said nothing. "Didn't you say they'd be here around sunset?"

"Yeah," Naomi said. "But with all the excitement today, George and the others must be getting new instructions. I did already," She added. "And you'd be interested to know that I'm supposed to tell you what we're doing, exactly what we're doing, for the mission."

"Seriously?" Miles grinned. "Can you drop me a hint?"

"No," Naomi said. "I think I'm going to put you in suspense."

At this point the boat lurched. Miles nearly fell off the edge of the boat, but instinct made him grip tightly on the railings and just swing backward a bit. Naomi fell forward towards the railing and caught herself. Miles automatically reached his right hand up and caught her arm so she wouldn't fall forward even more.

"What was that?" Naomi asked when she had straightened herself up.

"Like I'd know," Miles said. "You know more than I do here, so why don't you tell me?"

Naomi said nothing and stared out into the ocean. Miles decided not to push the subject and instead said, "Yeah, I know, that sunset is pretty romantic isn't it?"

Instead of rolling her eyes or telling him to shut up, she laughed. "In your dreams, Miles Straume."

No one said anything for a while after that. They only sat, Miles on the railing and looking opposite of Naomi, who was leaning against the railing and looking out into the sun.

A door opened and George Minkowski came out. "Hey, Naomi," he greeted. Naomi turned and nodded. "And…?"

"Miles," Naomi told him. "I hope you don't mind, but I invited him."

"Nah, it's fine," George said. "You play hold 'em much, Miles?"

"Not really," Miles replied.

George took a seat at the table and Naomi walked over to him. Miles hopped off the side and joined them. Right as Miles was sitting down; the door burst open revealing none other than Captain Gault himself.

"What just happened?" Gault yelled. "What was the meaning of that?"

They all just stared at him. "Dorrit," Gault said more quietly. "Go get your man-Daniel Faraday."

"Yes sir," Naomi said and rushed off to below deck to find Dan.

Naomi came back with Dan and Charlotte following. "Faraday. Do you know what could have done that mysterious tilt of the boat?"

"Well," Dan began. "It's-It's possible that the island could be emitting an unusually strong blast of electromagnetism, which may have-."

"Is that what did it?" the captain interrupted.

"It's my best guess," Dan said.

"Does that mean we're closer than we thought we were?" Gault asked.

"Not necessarily," Dan said. "Electromagnetism is really strong, especially where we're going, so it might just have been a bit more powerful than usual. I don't know, maybe the survivors triggered it somehow…"

"Can you find out any more?"

"Probably not," Dan said warily. "Whatever it was, it passed us by now, but it was coming from-," he paused, and glanced around. He finally pointed to the left. "_-that _direction."

Gault looked as though he was in deep thought about something, but only for a moment. "Faraday, Lewis, find Keamy and send him to my office."

"Yes, sir," Dan and Charlotte said at the same time and both turned to do that. Gault nodded to George, Naomi, and Miles before turning and walking back to his room.

Kevin Johnson, along with three other people, stepped out of the doorway to let the captain through. "Are we late?"

"Right on time," George responded while shuffling a deck of cards skillfully. "Right, so this is Miles. _Naomi _invited him to play."

"What is that supposed to mean?" Naomi said. George ignored her.

They played a few hands of Texas Hold 'Em. Miles had won quite a few of them, causing Naomi to ask, "Did you lie to me, Miles?"

"I don't know what you're talking about," Miles said innocently.

"Oh, whatever," Naomi laughed. "George, didn't Miles say that he didn't play much?"

"Yeah, that's true," George realized.

"Okay, so I play a bit more than I said I did," Miles admitted. They went on with the game until they got tired. They all said goodnight and set off in their own directions.

"I'm glad you came tonight," Naomi said Miles as they both walked along the edge of the ship. "Even though I would've won if you hadn't come."

"Yeah, right," Miles said. Naomi laughed and pushed him.

"Seriously," Naomi said. "I like having you here."

"And I liked being here," Miles responded. "Though I admit I wouldn't have liked it as much if you weren't there."

"Thank you, Miles," Naomi said. "Well…I'm going to bed. I'll see you in the morning, right?"

"Yeah," Miles said. "Are you sure you can't tell me one little thing about what we're going to do on the island?"

"No, I can't," Naomi said. "Goodnight."

"Goodnight," Miles said. She turned and began to walk away. Miles grabbed her arm to stop her.

"What?" Naomi turned and looked at him.

Miles pulled her closer to him. He put his other arm around her shoulders as their lips met.

When they pulled apart, Miles answered her question. "I couldn't let you leave with just a 'goodnight.'"

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**Sorry. Really, I'm sorry. I told you I loved that pairing. I promise there will be a fair amount of time for each character. It won't be just Miles/Naomi…well I guess I put Frank in there but still.**


	5. Chapter 5

**Special thanks go out to Jesus. Lives because of all the nice comments and stuff I've been getting from you!**

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"Should have known you'd be the first one in here," Naomi said when Miles entered the room.

"Why wouldn't I be?" Miles asked and sat down. "I'm early, aren't I?"

"You know as well as I do that you're early," Naomi responded while looking over some notes.

"Well I can't get past you," Miles grinned as Charlotte opened the door and sat down as well.

A few silent minutes passed before Dan and Frank both walked in the room. "Right, now," Naomi said immediately. "We have a couple of things for you all to do. And they all begin with one person." Naomi pulled a photo out of her folder. "This is Benjamin Linus. Mr. Widmore has assigned for us to capture him, bring him to this boat so our security can escort him back to the mainland." She handed out files of him to each of him and what they know about the island.

"So that's it?" Charlotte questioned. "Why are we called the science team if all we have to do is capture this guy?"

"There's a place on the island," Naomi continued. "Where very toxic gases are held. Benjamin Linus has them ready to release in case we come-for this very incident. Before he has the chance to do that, somebody must deactivate them." She looked at Dan. "Can I count on you for that?"

"Absolutely," Dan replied nervously.

"Now with the case of the 815 survivors," Naomi went on. "What we need to do is befriend them so they don't get too suspicious. The only way to do that is when we get to the island; we tell them that we're going to rescue them. Mr. Widmore has another alibi-he knows someone-a friend of his daughter, Penelope- who went missing a few years back and we say we're out to find him. This picture is him, Desmond, and Penelope herself." She removed another photo from the folder and showed them.

"So what are we going to do once the survivors realize we aren't there to rescue them?" Frank asked casually.

"They're not going to realize it," Naomi told him. "Because when you get Benjamin Linus imprisoned, you need to release that very same poison gas and kill everyone else on the island."

They all stared at her with clearly shocked expressions. "Why would we kill all of the innocent people if all we want is Benjamin?" Dan asked desperately. "If they don't deserve it, why-?"

"We have to," Naomi interrupted. "What if they somehow come in contact with the world and tell everyone about this island and its powers? No, we need to keep it secret. We have to. Innocent people die, Daniel, and maybe it's better sooner than later."

"Okay, so I'm still confused," Charlotte said. "If the only thing we really do that has to do with science is stop Ben from releasing the gas, then why are we the science team?"

"See, this island has powers beyond anyone's dreams," Naomi said. "Rumor has it that people have been cured from cancer, and even brought back to life. Mr. Widmore tells me that there are hundreds, maybe thousands of unknown animal species. There is one in particular that Mr. Widmore is interested in." She looked at Charlotte. "I thought you would be interested in that."

"How hard is it going to be to get this guy?" Frank asked. "Is it just a one-day thing or do we have any idea where he is?"

"Ben has been known to be deceiving and manipulative," Naomi answered. "He will be hard to catch and hard to keep an eye on. You're going to have to find out where specifically he is by yourselves. And that reminds me; Mr. Widmore and Ben Linus had words before we took off. They were saying that they knew a war was oncoming, and that it was time to set some-rules, I guess. There is a girl, his daughter, actually, her name is Alexandra or more commonly known as Alex." Naomi pulled out yet another picture. "We are not to harm her. In turn, Ben has promised not to set loose his deadly beast-the one Mr. Widmore is interested in."

"And we set rules with him for what reason?" Miles questioned dully.

"Because if we hadn't, we would all be dead the moment he heard we were on the island," Naomi answered.

"Fair enough," Miles shrugged. "So are we done here?"

"For now," Naomi said. "But things may play out so we may need to change these orders."  
They all nodded and got up to leave. Naomi was surprised that they all-even Miles-were in a rush to get out of there. They probably had a lot to think about anyway. "Miles," Naomi called.

He looked back curiously. "What?"

"Here," Naomi handed him the picture of Ben. "You can't forget what he looks like. I trust you with this. Keep hold of it, okay?"

"Will do," Miles said, taking the picture and flashing Naomi a grin. "See you later."  
He flipped through the folder on the way to his room. One phrase on a piece of paper about Ben caught his eye: _He has been known to acquire objects that may otherwise be impossible-people from the dead or large amounts of money without explanation._

A plan formed in Miles mind immediately. He wouldn't feel bad betraying them at all, except perhaps Naomi. But hey, it wouldn't harm her at all and it would benefit himself so he decided to go for it. But if it failed and they found out he could be in terrible trouble with that strict captain they had.

………………………………………………………………………………………………

"What's wrong, Dan?" Charlotte asked as they meandered down the hallway.

"I don't feel right," Dan said awkwardly. "Letting loose the gas on those people…and I'm the only one that knows how."

"Maybe it's for the best," Charlotte said. "I mean, you wouldn't want to live your life on an island like that when you have family and friends back home. Dan, just think, we won't know them so there is no need to feel guilty. The world thinks they're dead anyway."

Dan still looked uncomfortable. Charlotte put an arm around his shoulders and said, "Come on, just think of the opportunities that we have! We're one of the few that even know this place _exists, _and part of an even smaller group that get to see it for themselves. There is so much stuff to learn and figure out about that place."

Dan smiled. "I guess there's that to look forward to, at least."

"Hey Dan," someone said from down the hallway. She was walking towards him.

"Hey," he paused. What was her name? "Regina."

"Who's your friend?" Regina asked, nodding towards Charlotte.

"This is Charlotte," Dan introduced. "Charlotte, this is Regina."

Charlotte nodded but didn't say anything. "Listen, Dan," Regina went on. "Since we've been getting closer to the island I wanted to see if any time-changes were occurring. So, if you would be so kind as to help me out later, it would be really appreciated."

"Of course," Dan answered. "I will see you later." Regina smiled and went on through the corridor.

"What was that all about?" Charlotte asked sourly.

"I met Regina that same day I met you," Dan explained. "She seemed interested in the same kind of stuff I was and she said we'd probably be working together at some point in time."

Once again Charlotte nodded but remained silent. "Is something wrong, Charlotte?" Dan asked.

"No," Charlotte sighed. "No, nothing's wrong."

Dan looked concerned but didn't say anything more. He couldn't seem to figure out what got Charlotte so bitter so suddenly.

"I might see you later, Dan," Charlotte said, still with bitterness in her voice. She opened her door and, without waiting for Dan to say bye, slammed it shut.

Dan stood quite still, more confused than ever. _What has gotten into her?_

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**Ooh, somebody's jealous. I would be too.**


	6. Chapter 6

**It's like I know what's going to happen next but there's a huge gap between them going to the island and where they are now.**

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"What are you doing up here?" Miles asked when he climbed to the very top of the boat.

It was the roof of the main cabin.

Naomi just laughed and kept on reading whatever she was reading. "I could ask the same thing."

"Well I, unlike you, have an answer," Miles sat down next to her. "I was looking for you forever, and now I found you."

They sat together for a moment in silence. "You're not going to tell me why you're up here?" Miles said finally.

It took Naomi a while before she answered. "We're getting closer to the island. I don't want to miss it."

"Talk about obsession," Miles laughed and shook his head.

"Hey!" Naomi exclaimed. "I resent that!"

"Oh well," Miles grinned.

Another few minutes went by before someone said something. "That must be his fourth experiment in the last hour," Naomi sighed.

"Who, Faraday?" Miles asked. "Yeah, I mean, why work when you could be relaxing?"

"You know, I think he actually has the right idea," Naomi said. "Some people actually have something to do. There's a lot of work to do on this ship."

"What is that supposed to mean?" Miles said, pretending to be hurt. "Okay, okay…do you want me to leave you alone?"  
Naomi noticed how sincere this question was. "That depends. If leaving me alone means shutting up and not being annoying, then yes, I do. If leaving me alone means that you're going to leave, then no."

Miles grinned. "I get what you're trying to say."

Naomi smiled back. "I'm starting to like just being here on the ship. Now I'm not just waiting desperately to get to the island. Now, I have something to do."

Miles smirked. Once again he put his arm around her and brought their lips together in a kiss.

...

It had been about two weeks since then. Frank was sitting out on deck, bored, when Regina came running out from below deck.

"Frank!" she exclaimed. "You have to help me find the captain…or Keamy! Quickly!"

Frank chose not to question her urgency and wordlessly rushed off. He turned a corner and ran into the Gault himself.

"Captain!" Frank panted. "Regina needs to see you. I don't know what about, but it seemed pretty important by the way she was acting."

"Where is she?" Gault demanded.

"Last time I saw, up on deck," Frank told him.

"Lead the way," Gault ordered.

Frank turned and retraced his steps back up the stairs. He saw Regina there, waiting.

"Captain, sir," Regina said desperately. "I'm afraid we have an emergency. Sir, I went to go relieve George of his communications duties for the next few hours, but when I got there-," she cut off, tears running down her face. "-George was unconscious. His head was bleeding, and sir, all of the equipment there was broken. It was all inoperable some way or another."

Gault paused for a split second. "Regina, get Doctor Ray, now. Frank, go find the deckhand…Kevin Johnson, and tell him to come and fix this. Go!"

Frank hurried off. He didn't know where he was going, but he was bound to run into Kevin eventually. He found him mopping the floor in a hallway below deck.

"Kevin," Frank shouted. "There's a problem. The communications room is in a wreck. You need to get some stuff to fix it and come with me!"

Kevin got this odd expression on his face, but he snapped out of it. "Alright, man, I'll be right back." He ran off. A few minutes later he came back loaded with supplies. "Let's go."

Frank led the way over to the communications room, passing Regina and Dr. Ray carrying George Minkowski on a stretcher. "Looks like someone got him pretty bad," Frank commented. Kevin looked nervous.

"Don't worry," Frank assured him. "I'm sure it'll be fine." They walked into the communications room and saw Captain Gault waiting there.

"Johnson," Gault said immediately. "Can you fix this?"

The room was in total chaos. Everything was destroyed; wires were cut, machines were smashed, whoever did this did it right.

"I can try," Kevin said, still nervous.

………………………………………………………………………………………………

That night Naomi was called into the Captain's room along with several others. When she got there, Gault and Minkowski were standing before a small crowd. George's head was bandaged.

"Okay," Gault began. "Because of recent events we need a new method of communication between us-just as preparation before we go our separate ways." He waited to see if anyone would say anything, and they didn't. "Minkowski here has a back-up plan, and I'll let him explain that now."

"Right," George said. "Well, it doesn't look as if that room is going to be functioning any time soon. In the meantime, we still need to stay in contact somehow. What I have here is a bunch of satellite phones-sort of like walkie talkies. You are the only ones that are going to need them, because you're the only ones that are going to be stepping foot off of this boat."

Naomi looked around at them all. Sure enough, all of her team was there, as was Keamy and a few people that Naomi referred to as 'security.'

George had explained how they worked and they were all leaving now. "I am never going to remember how to work these," Dan said tiredly to Charlotte.

"Sure you will," Charlotte said, back in her peppy attitude. "I mean, when you have to use them, you won't have to remember every single little thing, just what you need to do. I promise you Daniel; there's nothing to worry about."

Dan smiled. How is it that Charlotte was always able to cheer him up? "I guess you're right," Dan said.

"I am right," Charlotte nodded.

Before anyone could say anything else, a random person pushed past them. He was panting and running towards the room where they had just emerged. "Captain! Captain! Come help! We've stopped moving. Someone broke the engines."

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**Okay, yeah, I know. It was too much Miles/Naomi. But I had to get them closer together before…you know…**


	7. Chapter 7

**I'm starting out with a hint of Miles/Naomi, but I'm really sorry; this chapter is more serious than romantic anyway.**

No one had said anything but 'hi', and that was 10 minutes ago. Miles and Naomi were just sitting on the railing next to each other before something broke the silence.

Without reason, Miles had almost toppled forward off of the motionless boat. He got this weird shadow in the back of his eyes and just barely caught himself.

"Are you okay?" Naomi asked.

Miles said nothing. He still had that dead look in the corners of his eyes. "Miles?"

Suddenly, he blinked and shook his head slowly. "What happened?"

"What happened?" Naomi repeated. "How should I know; you almost just fell off the boat."

"I-uh," Miles said woozily. He put his hand to his head. It looked as if he was sick. "I don't know."  
Naomi looked concernedly at him for a moment. "Is there something you're not telling me, Miles?"

Miles opened his mouth like he was going to say something, but then thought better of it. "It's nothing."

"_What's _nothing?" Naomi interrogated.

"Nothing!" Miles exclaimed. "Really, I'm fine."

"Something has to be nothing," Naomi said. "What was that all about, Miles?"

He stared off into the horizon for a moment. "We're here."

"What?" Naomi said. "We're…at the island?"

"That's the only logical explanation," Miles shrugged. "I heard people-talking. And the island's the only place where I would hear voices that you wouldn't."

"We should tell the captain," Naomi stated.

"No," Miles said. "I don't want him to get all worked up, and if I'm wrong, well, he probably wouldn't be so happy."  
Another couple of minutes went by before Naomi broke the silence. "I'm going first."

"What?" Miles questioned.

"I can fly a helicopter," Naomi said. "And we've got two. I'm flying out before you all. Frank can take you in at the scheduled time."

"But why?" Miles asked.

"I have to," Naomi said. "I need to see this island. Do you understand how long I've been waiting for this? I'm flying out there tomorrow."

"But you're part of our team," Miles said. "You're our leader. What are we going to do without you? And we don't even know if we're there yet."

"The more time we waste waiting for the engines to get fixed, the more time Linus'll have to run!" Naomi said loudly. "Look, I can come in contact with the survivors. Nothing is going to happen. I'm going, Miles, and that's that."

………………………………………………………………………………………………

"Why do we need these?" Dan asked, indicating the gun.

"We're fighting a war, aren't we?" Naomi said. "It would be a hard battle to fight if they're the only ones with guns. And come to think about it, we might find ourselves held hostage at gun point, and them forcing us to say we're alright. Keamy says the code for that is 'tell my sister I love her.'"

"But we probably won't have to use that, right?" Charlotte said. "I mean, they don't even know we're coming."

"I think he does," Naomi said.

"You should think this over again, Naomi," Frank advised. "It might be better if we all flew out at once."

"No," Naomi shook her head. "This is for the best." She hopped up into the pilot's seat.

"Be careful, won't you?" Miles said.

"Of course," Naomi smiled, giving him one last kiss goodbye before they stepped back and she flew off into the distance.

...

She didn't even remember parachuting out of the copter. She didn't remember getting impaled by that tree branch on the way down. All she knew was that now, she had to get the survivors to save her life.

"I'm dying," she said. She couldn't understand exactly what they were saying, but she'd gotten, "What's she saying?" Had she spoken in another language? She couldn't really control that right now. She tried again.

"I'm dying," Naomi said. "Help me, I'm dying."

She was still zoning in and out, like an old radio, and she only caught parts of the conversation. She heard someone with a Russian accent saying. "-she's going to die."

They were trying to help her. They had helped her and she felt much better. She must convince them that she was trying to help them. "I'm not alone."

But it seemed no one understood her. "-she's going to live."

Naomi was relieved. Now, later, she sensed someone sitting beside her. "Where am I?"

"I don't know," the person said. "You're on an Island. Are you here to rescue us? Are there more of you, can you make your phone work?"

Too many questions. "Who are you?"

"Hugo Reyes. I crashed here on Oceanic Flight 815. A bunch of us survived. Is that why you're here, were you looking for us?" This guy was excited. Better play the part, Naomi thought to herself.

She explained to him that the survivors were all found dead at the bottom of an ocean trench. He bought the story, exclaiming, "What?!" at the end of it.

They brought Naomi to a tent and kept her inside. She couldn't move much, but to her surprise she felt loads better. She had thought it had only been a day since it happened, was it perhaps the time change Daniel was talking about?

She told a man named Sayid the half truth. She told him that their plane was at the bottom of the ocean which was true, and that her boat was 80 miles offshore. But she lied and said that she was part of a search and recovery team. But that was all the plan-search and recover Desmond Hume.

Naomi had to get them to fix the phone. No way in the world could she do it herself, not even if she was completely healthy.

...

Sayid had gotten Naomi's phone to work, but something was blocking the signal. Naomi didn't get exactly what was going on with this talk of war and stuff, but she knew that she was going on some hike that would make them able to call her boat.

"So I need to show you how this wonderful gadget works in case anything happens to me," Naomi said to Jack on their way up to this radio tower. She didn't like saying it, but after that almost fateful parachute down, anything could happen.

She explained to him the basics of calling her boat. She had to get them to the island, no matter what.

It was a long hike with them all worrying about something like there weren't enough explosions back at the beach or whatever. Naomi just sat around impatiently and waited for the trek to continue.

And then she saw him. He was the reason they were there, but she was in no state to run up and grab him or anything. She still had to make sure the survivors thought she was here to rescue them, she had to make sure long enough to talk to Minkowski on the boat, and hopefully Ben was still around when that happened.

After he goes off to talk to Jack, Naomi stood wondering why on earth they didn't go on to the radio tower and have Jack catch up with them. But these people seemed pretty dedicated to their leader, so Naomi didn't complain. Anyway, her urgency to get there might raise suspicion.

And even when Jack returns, he and Kate run off by themselves to get a drink or something, with the only words from Jack being "tie him up", which of course referred to Ben. That was probably a good thing, so as long as Naomi stuck with those guys, Ben would be near.

But when they finally got walking again, Naomi struck up a conversation with one of the survivors when suddenly, the phone beeps. "Charlie just got us rescued," she said, before hurrying off to tell Jack.

That being so, the phone still didn't work. The woman's distress call was still blocking the signal. They still had to make it back to the radio tower. Naomi was glad they had actually got somewhere though.

And finally, at long last, they unblocked the signal. She walked around outside until she got a clear signal, but that's the last thing she remembered doing.

**Ahck, I HATE that. That was, like, info we already knew. Ergh, but it was leading up to Naomi's knifed back. Don't worry, I guarantee this is the most boring chapter you'll ever see in this fic.**


	8. Chapter 8

**I have terrible, terrible writer's block right now so just hang in there. And if I start changing the lines in the show, I do it on purpose to fit this story more.**

George Minkowski was in the communications room with Kevin, trying to fix it all, and it wasn't working. Suddenly, the phone on his belt started buzzing.

"Who could that be?" Kevin asked curiously.

"I don't know," George plucked it off of his belt and looked at it. "Must be Naomi, though, because I don't know who else would have to call. Hey, do me a favor, would you, and go get her team for me? This might be important." Kevin nodded and headed out the door.

"Minkowski," George answered. No one said anything for a couple seconds. "Hello?"

"Who is this?" Someone on the other line asked as Miles burst through the door of the communications room.

"Is that-?" Miles said, but he stopped when George put up a silencing finger.

"Who is this?" George asked.

Miles' face fell when someone answered, "My name is Jack Shephard. Are you-are you on the boat, the freighter?"

George and Miles exchanged confused glances. "How did you get this channel?"

"Naomi," Jack told him. Miles looked up, excited again. "Naomi told us about your search team-about the boat."

"Naomi," George reiterated. Miles mouthed 'where is she' to George. "You found her? Where is she? Who are you?"

"I'm one of the survivors of Oceanic Flight 815," Jack answered. "Can you get a fix on our location?"

"It's about time they asked," Miles muttered.

"Hell yeah we can!" George exclaimed. "Sit tight. We'll be right there." And with that, he hung up.

"Yes!" Miles and George yelled at the same time. "We've got to get your team ready to go. They're expecting you now, so you're going to go earlier than planned," George said.

"But Naomi told us to fly in at the scheduled time," Miles said.

"Yeah, well," George shrugged. "Naomi's not here to give orders anymore. Just go tell Dan, Charlotte, and Frank. Tell Frank to get the copter ready. I'm going to find out where they are."

Miles nodded and left. He raced through the halls and up the stairs where he saw the bright afternoon sun. Right at the top of the staircase were Dan and Charlotte. He stopped suddenly, skidding on the wood floor as he did.

"Come with me!" Miles said loudly. He blinked and looked around. "Where's Frank? Oh! He's over there! Come on!" Dan and Charlotte glanced at each other before swiftly following Miles over to where Frank was standing.

"Frank," Miles said urgently. "What are you doing?"

"Fixing up the chopper," Frank said slowly, because it was real obvious what he was doing.

"Great!" Miles exclaimed. "You keep on doing that. But listen to what I'm saying too!" He paused, thinking about what exactly he was saying. "Is that thing ready to fly tomorrow?"

"No," Frank said. "It's ready to fly in three days when we're flying out there."

"Not anymore," Miles said. "Naomi just called-well, it wasn't Naomi, it was one of the survivors, but they used Naomi's phone. Anyway, now they expect us to be coming in to 'rescue' them soon. So we can't wait three days anymore."

"Did you talk to Naomi?" Charlotte asked.

"No," Miles replied, looking a bit downcast. "But they'll probably be calling again soon and we can ask to talk to her then. See if she's found out anything. But, for now, you should all get whatever you need for the island."

Before anyone could say anything else, Miles turned and ran back, retracing his steps and eventually arriving at the communications room, where George was speaking on the phone again.

Miles remained silent and listened as George said, "How about you put Naomi on?"

"Naomi-," Jack was hesitating. "-Went to get some firewood. Can you hold on for a second, let me see if I-."

George held the phone out in front of him and looked at it in confusion. "They must not be that desperate to get off, or else they wouldn't have hung up," George laughed and placed on a table covered in broken devices. "Do you think-?" He paused, looking unsure.

"What?" Miles said when George didn't go on.

"Does it sort of seem…wrong to you?" George said.

"What's wrong and in what way?" Miles asked.

"The survivors," George said casually, tipping back in his chair. "Why would they send Naomi to get firewood? Why would they send their only hope of rescue out into the dangerous jungle? Of course," George added quickly when a shadow of fear overpowered Miles' face. "She's going to be fine. They couldn't have sent her out on her own and she has to be back before dark, which is in a few hours, and nothing can happen in that time."

Miles still looked a bit worried. George smiled reassuringly. "You should probably get up on deck. Kevin's going to be back here in a minute and we've got to get back to fixing this mess."

For the next few hours Miles, Dan, Charlotte, Regina, and Frank packed up the chopper. "Is it ready, Frank, besides being packed?" Charlotte asked while pushing a piece of equipment in the back.

"It should be," Frank answered.

"Oh, uh," Dan said. "That reminds me; Frank, there's something that you need to know. This island, it's powerful, and it has its ways to keep people away from it. There's one path in and one path only. If this path isn't taken, then the people might-."

"Dan," Frank interrupted. "Get on with it."

"I'm sure you know all about bearings," Dan said. "So just, when we fly in, make sure to fly in on a bearing of 3-2-5. Got it? 3-2-5."

"I hear you loud and clear," Frank nodded and went back to work.

A little while later Kevin Johnson came up and told them that someone called George again. They all hurried down there to hear the conversation.

"What do you mean you're looking for her?" George said when they came in. He sighed and set the phone down.

"Not the best idea," George said. "That's the second time today they hung up on us."

"What was that all about?" Charlotte asked.

"I asked Kate where Naomi was," George told them. "And she said that she was looking for her. And then she hung up."

Frank said aloud the question they all were asking in their heads. "Why would they have to look for her?"

"I don't know," George answered uncomfortably. "Maybe…maybe she was supposed to meet them somewhere at a certain time and lost track of time. Maybe she went to do whatever it is you guys need to do." He raised his eyebrows at them. "I don't know your mission exactly, but do you think she would've?"

They all thought about reasons why she would go looking for Linus without everyone there. "She might've," Charlotte said. "She might've if she found a good alibi for it. But I don't know why she didn't wait for us."

"Try calling again," Miles said. "Tell 'Kate' that if we're going to rescue them, we need answers."

George shrugged, grabbed the phone, swiftly dialed the numbers, and waited for an answer. Finally-

"George, its Naomi," the person on the other line picked up.

"Naomi!" George exclaimed, and everyone in the room breathed a sigh of relief. "Where've you been? What's going on over there?"

There was a slight pause and just as George was about to look if they hung up again, Naomi spoke. "I had an accident. I'm hurt."

**Uh oh, I see angst for poor Miles in the next chapter. At least I'm finally updating.**


	9. Chapter 9

**Hey! I'm back from vacation! I've got lots of updates to…um…update? Well anyway…**

**One of my faithful readers, Elyad, was inspired by my work to write fanfictions. I'd just like to say that reviews could help…check out the stories. I thought they were magnificent, and if they're inspired by my work, how bad can they be? (I am full of myself, aren't I?)**

**Anyway…first update in a long time…**

Daniel Faraday was never very good about dealing with death. He was becoming more startled and uneasy as the conversation between George and Naomi went on. By the looks of it, he wasn't the only one.

"Wha-an accident?" George questioned, glancing back at the shocked faces behind him. "What accident? What happened? Naomi? Hello? Hello?"

"I hit a tree branch when I parachuted in," Naomi answered. "Took in through my gut."

"Why did they tell me you were getting firewood?"

"I guess they were afraid to tell you what happened until I could talk to you myself," Naomi responded.

"We've lost our signal and we can't come get you. Can you change your tracking frequency?" George asked her.

"Yeah," Naomi said. There was a pause. "Try it now."

"Clear as a bell," George said, relieved. "Hang on Naomi; we'll get you back here ASAP, okay?"

"I'm sorry, George," Naomi said. "Just tell Mi-tell my sister I love her."

There was a beep, indicating the end of the call. The communications room was completely silent. "No," Miles muttered. "Try to call back! Maybe if we-." Miles was cut off when George set the phone down.

"I'm sorry," George said sincerely, directing to everyone but looking straight at Miles. "You should probably get ready to go."

They all turned and began to depart. Miles gave one desperate look back to the phone before shaking his head and leaving.

………………………………………………………………………………………………

Charlotte felt Daniel embrace her. She didn't see this because she had buried her face in her hands. She usually hated showing any signs of weakness, but it didn't seem as bad with Dan's comforting arms around her.

She lost track of how long she and Dan stood there, but eventually she lifted her head off his shoulders. "Charlotte," Dan began awkwardly, but silenced when Charlotte shook her head.

"I'm so inconsiderate," Charlotte said shakily. "I should-where's Miles?"

Dan couldn't answer. "Let's…just…Minkowski's right. We have to get ready to go," he said quietly.

"I am ready," Charlotte said hesitantly.

"Then we should see if everyone else is ready and we can go to the island," Dan said.

"I don't want to go to the island!" Charlotte exclaimed. "Not anymore! Naomi died there, Daniel. She used the code."

Dan ignored the fact he had no idea what she was talking about. "Charlotte, listen to yourself. An hour ago you were bouncing off the walls in excitement to go. Do you remember why you were so happy?"

"Yes," Charlotte stated. "I'm so sorry, Dan, you're right."

"Hey!" Miles called from down the corridor. "We've got to go." He walked up on deck.

Dan and Charlotte glanced at each other. "You okay?" Dan asked.

Charlotte forced a smile and nodded. They followed Miles out. On deck, Frank was doing a last minute check of the helicopter. Miles was standing impatiently off to the side, twirling his gun between his fingers. Several others were gathered as well, waiting to give their goodbyes and good-lucks. "You all set?" Frank asked. The group nodded.

One by one, they piled onto the helicopter, saying bye as they went. "See you, Dan," Regina said. "You'll call soon as you can, yeah?"

"Of course," Dan said.

"You've got everything?" Dan nodded. "Okay, and-."

"Dan!" Charlotte shouted from the chopper, making sure to catch Regina in the middle of a sentence. "Let's go!"

"Bye," Dan said hurriedly, hopping on board the helicopter. Moments later, they were in the air.

Dan was uncomfortable about the way Miles kept spinning his gun and refusing to put it away. He seemed to be lost in thought because he had this far-off look in his eyes. But Dan was apparently wrong, for seconds later he asked Frank, "How long till we get there?"

"Well, since it's the first time," Frank began, calculating in his head. "I'd say, maybe, 25 minutes, at most."

………………………………………………………………………………………………

No one had said anything for a while now. Miles was still absentmindedly fiddling with his gun, but Dan didn't realize it anymore.

He was thinking, remembering the one thing he wouldn't be able to forget if he tried, the reason he was uneasy on the topic of death. It was when his memory started to go bad.

_Flashback_

"_Tough day, Dan?" Mike asked. It was just about the end of the day and all of his customers had left-except Daniel Faraday._

_Dan sighed and gulped down some coffee. "Yup."_

_Mike laughed. "Only you would work so hard on a weekend, Dan. Take it easy for once."_

_Dan shook his head. "Weekends don't mean days off, Mike. Thanks." He slid some money across the table._

_Dan heard Mike say "G'night," as he walked out the door. He walked with his hands in his pockets back to his lab at Oxford. He needed to get some more work done before calling it a day. He pushed the door open._

_The sight before him made him halt in his tracks for a few seconds. Lights were blinking and flashing and smoke was pouring out of machines._

_Dan slammed the door frantically. And then he saw him. Connor, one of his students, had wandered in here. He was walking towards a machine. Dan noticed a dark stain on Connor's shirt-alcohol. The boy had been drinking._

"_Connor! Get away from that!" Dan shouted uselessly. He forced his way through all the equipment towards the kid. He found some things tipped over that were blocking his way. To walk through the spark-spitting machine would be dangerous-and yet the only way. He closed his eyes shut and stepped in._

_The next thing that happened to Dan was waking up in the morning. HE jumped up urgently and looked around. He blinked. Why was his stuff all over the place? Did he do this?_

_He wandered around, putting everything back in place. Once it was all back in order, he walked outside to get the newspaper and some breakfast. He glanced at the headline. **Student Found Dead In Closet.**_

_Concerned, Dan read on. **Connor Braidey, 23, was found dead in an electrical closet late last night. His body was discovered directly under high voltage wiring.**_

**_A stain was found on his shirt that was later revealed to be beer. It can be assumed that he was drunk and wandered into the closet, not reading the clearly placed warning sign._**

**_His parents were informed of the incident immediately. They confirmed that they didn't find the school responsible in any way and would not be taking legal action of any sort._**

_It all came back to Dan. The kid in his lab. Stepping into the machine. Dan continued reading. Only one thing stood out to him about the details of Connor's death: his nose was bleeding._

_End of flashback_

"Hey Genius, let's go!" Miles was yelling. What had he missed?

The helicopter was in complete chaos. Frank was yelling at them to jump, Charlotte was hurriedly throwing on a bullet proof vest (which they were all forced to wear), and Miles was shouting at Dan.

Before he could get a grip of what was going on, Dan was pushed out of the side door. He acted on instinct and pulled the string to get his parachute to come out.

Dan felt himself touch the ground. He was alright! He had made it to the island okay.

Suddenly, he heard a rustling in the bushes. He reached in his pocket to see if he still had his gun. He pulled it out and made sure it was ready to fire if he had to.

**I enjoyed writing that, except for poor Miles. I love that guy. Sorry it was mostly about Dan, but, I know EVERYONE loves that guy, am I right?**


	10. Chapter 10

"Hey there," Dan said to the two people who had emerged from the bushes

"Hey there," Dan said to the two people who had emerged from the bushes. For some reason he could remember the name easily. "Are you Jack?"

"Yeah, I'm Jack," he responded. The woman behind him looked completely stunned. "Who are you?"

Dan couldn't recall if he was supposed to lie about his name or not. He assumed he could just tell them the truth. "I'm Daniel Faraday. I'm here to rescue you."

Dan could tell that mere statement was enough to get them to trust him completely. As the three of them walked along, they questioned him. "Hey Dan, the chopper, how many of you were on it?"

"Er, four, including me," Dan said. He was extremely impressed by the island. Sure, it was plants and trees, like any other island, but it seemed so different.

"So what happened to the rest of them?" the woman, now revealed to be Kate, asked.

"Yeah, yeah, I, er, I have no idea," Dan said truthfully. He hoped that none of them were hurt; it was pretty chaotic up there. "I dunno how many were able to get out before it went down, I just, I jumped and I lost my , what do you call it, my pack, and my phone was in my pack, if I had my phone I would just-,"

"We have a phone," Kate interrupted.

"You have a phone," Dan reiterated. They handed it to him. It must've been Naomi's. "Thank you." He took it and looked down at the numerous buttons, forgetting how to work it. So much for what Charlotte had said.

Apparently his fingers knew more than he did, for seconds later someone picked up and said, "Minkowski."

"Hey, George," Dan said. "It's Daniel."

"Dan," George said, sounding relieved. "The chopper comm went dead, what the hell happened up there?"

"Yeah, I dunno," Dan said. "There was an electrical storm, all the instruments, they, I think they went down. But listen, I made contact with some of the survivors and we were just-."

"Dan, am I on speaker?" Dan could sense the seriousness of his tone and turned to Jack and Kate.

"Would you give me just one sec?" he asked. Without waiting for an answer, he walked a few feet away and turned off speaker.

"Dan," George said. "Did you find any of the others? Charlotte, Frank, Miles?"

"Well…no," Dan answered. "I was the first one of the chopper, so I don't-,"

"Listen," George said hesitantly. "These people killed Naomi. You have to keep yourself safe and find the others as soon as possible. Be cautious; Naomi was smart, and these people overpowered her. Befriend the survivors. That may have been her mistake."

"Right."

George quickly explained how the phone could help find them. Dan hung up and turned back. Both Jack and Kate were looking at him in a different way then before. He ignored this and told them what George had just explained before he could forget. They both agreed to help find his team, and Dan was relieved.

………………………………………………………………………………………………

Miles had landed safely on a rocky part of the island. He hurriedly got his gun out and ready. He'd barely gotten up, however, before he jumped right back down to the ground again.

It was about another 2 minutes before he heard voices. He first recognized Dan's, far off and shouting his name. The second was Jack's, the one who called the boat in the first place. And then there was Kate's, the one who killed Naomi.

Miles became aware that Jack was standing right above him. He skillfully whipped out his gun and was on his feet. "Back up, handsome."

"Hey, whoa, Miles, take it easy, it's okay," Dan sounded slightly nervous, almost warning. "They're here to help us. It's okay, Miles, they're just trying to help."

_Right, that's why the one is making a move for you gun, _Miles thought. "Hey! Back away from him. Hands where I can see them."

"Kate, it's alright, it's okay," Jack told her reassuringly.

"So you're Kate," Miles said. "Wanna tell me where Naomi is?"

"What?" Kate questioned.

"Naomi, the woman you killed," Miles said. "Where is she?"

"Miles, Miles, hey, what are you doing?" Dan asked. "What are you doing, these are good people."

Miles was stunned Dan couldn't remember something so simple. And Miles had a plan, Dan obviously didn't see it. "Then why'd Naomi use the damn code? Yeah, you remember when she said tell my sister I love her, well she doesn't have a sister. That's what we're supposed to say if we get captured, have a gun to our heads. Like right now, Jack here would say tell my sister I love her, you get it?"

And then Dan remembered.

………………………………………………………………………………………………

Her first view of the island, and it was upside down.

It could've been worse, she could've gotten hurt. Charlotte tried to free herself from the branch's strong hold, completely aware of the water beneath her. She just hoped it was deep enough and there weren't any rocks directly under her.

Suddenly she was engulfed by the flowing water. She resurfaced and breathed a refreshing breath of the clean air. She literally laughed out loud at her luck; she had made it to the island safely.

Charlotte then became aware of others' presence and saw people standing on the shore. Now she was nervous. Her thoughts trailed to who it could be. It could be Linus's people, ready to kill her because they know why she was there. Or it could be the survivors, those who had killed Naomi. Neither of them sounded too fun to be around right now.

"Hi," she said timidly.

"Hi yourself," the one in front said, apparently the leader. As far as Charlotte knew, Linus was the leader, and that wasn't him, so she figured it was the Oceanic survivors.

"Who are you?" Charlotte said, braver now that she thought she knew who they were.

"My name is John Locke, and I am one of the survivors of Oceanic Flight 815," John said. He didn't look too pleased to see her. "And I'm going to have to ask you to come with us."

Charlotte reluctantly climbed out of the water. Inconspicuously, she checked to make sure she still had her gun, which gave her a bit more reassurance.

Charlotte looked around at all of the survivors. Her heart sank when she noticed that none of her teammates were with them. But then she did a double take and her eyes fell on Benjamin Linus. Her eyes lingered on him for a moment longer before throwing him a smirk unnoticed by anyone else. Charlotte almost smiled when she noticed the fear in his eyes.

She was about to ask why he was with them, but stopped herself. That would just be way too suspicious. "Are you hurt?" John Locke asked her. He sat down on a rock and motioned to another opposite of him. She smiled slightly and wondered why these people killed Naomi; they seemed nice enough to her.

"No," Charlotte answered. "Just a bit shook up, I guess."

"Why are you here?" John asked quickly.

Charlotte was somewhat startled by this question. George told the survivors they were here to rescue them. "To rescue you all, of course. It must be terrible to have stayed on this island for so long."

"It had its moments," John stated.

"I can't believe you're alive," Charlotte said convincingly. Time to get acting. "How many of you are there?"

This time someone else answered. "Why do you wanna know?"

"Why wouldn't I wanna know?"

"Forty-eight of us survived the crash," he told her. "That's not counting the tail section, but they're pretty much all dead now."

"Hugo," John Locke interrupted warningly, but it was too late. Charlotte had heard. And it made her feel a lot more in danger.

………………………………………………………………………………………………

Everyone had seemingly gotten out of the helicopter safely. Now all Frank had to do was get himself to the island and not destroy the helicopter in the process.

Suddenly, the chopper shook violently and all the equipment went flying around, some falling out of the vehicle completely. Something metal and heavy worked its way up front and struck him in the leg.

Frank winced in pain. Fortunately, the chopper was becoming steadier as he neared the island. He could now see it clearly, and saw a clear field of grass, so he took up the opportunity.

The chopper landed with a gentle thud and Frank turned it off, sighing with relief. He now took the time to look at his leg, which was bruised and bleeding slightly. It hurt a lot for him to stand, but he ignored the pain. Right now, the best thing to do was to get everyone together without losing sight of the helicopter.

Frank grabbed a flare gun and looked around. There was a hill nearby. He figured it would more likely be seen if he was higher up, so he slowly began to limp up the slope.

Almost at the top, his bad leg caught a rock and he fell prostrate to the ground. Frank remembered how hard it was to stand up last time, so he just pulled his way up.

He saw rich green grass, abundant trees, glorious mountains, and…a cow. It was large and brown with a bell around its neck. It turned and then walked back into the jungle.

Frank blinked a couple of times before turning himself on his back and firing a flare into the sky. Now all Frank could do was hope desperately that the team was safe enough to see that.


End file.
